Tea Partiers Get a Royal Gift From ‘Robin Hood’: Amity Shlaes

Sometimes mythmakers find that their myth gets ahead of them. Especially those in Hollywood.

That was the case with film director George Lucas and “Star Wars.” Whatever Lucas and his team intended when they invented Yoda or Darth Vader, it was probably not to help U.S. President Ronald Reagan win the Cold War. Yet the film stirred something deep, mythical, and yes, Republican in the American soul. Within a few years, the name “Star Wars” attached itself to the Strategic Defense Initiative, elevating Reagan’s pet project. Lucas sued to prevent the name being used in connection with the Pentagon. Lucas was too late. The title had already intimidated a generation of Russian generals.